Gathering Israel: Updates from Our Missionaries
Enjoy the latest from our Orem Hillcrest Stake full-time missionaries serving around the world. Fresh updates appear as we hear from them.
Sister Samantha Becerra, Korea Busan
Apr 20, 2025
Hello everyone. Happy Easter! 안녕하세요 여러분! What a wondeful week it has been. Especially because it's Easter season! This week has been so wonderful! Zone conference: I had my last and final zone conference! And it was weird because the zone conference was in my first area! It was so emotional for me to come back! Some amazing memories of being a greenie! And now that I am ending my mission and having my zone conference at that exact same spot was just so amazing! I missed Masan for sure! But I learned a lot from other missionaries and also just felt so grateful to be serving the mission. So many good things are happening! Finding: Finding has been a little difficult because it's hard to find people that are interested....but it's okay, WE NEVER GIVE UP! We are working really hard to find the people we need to teach! Teaching friends: So we had to drop two of our friends because they were no longer interested which was sad.....but one friend is progressing SO MUCH! We actually have a baptismal date for him! He came to church this Sunday and we taught him the Plan of Salvation, it was great! This week I wanted to share this talk. It's called, "My Love for the Savior Is My “Why” by Elder Ricardo P. Giménez. I really LOVED this talk. I think everyone should read it! But one thing that stood out to me was this: "As your brother, I hope you will consider my words as a sincere invitation to seek to understand the opportunity to link everything we do with our love for the Savior. Doing this will help us understand the real 'why' behind everything we do as disciples of the Savior." My love for the Savior has definitely grown to a whole another level. And this week he gave us so many reasons for how he should be our WHY on what we do. I think it's so amazing that we have a reason, a Savior, to give us a reason why we should do what we do. To follow him, follow his example! I love my Savior! He is my reason WHY! HE LIVES! Anyways yall! That's it! I love you all so much! 너무 사랑합니다~❤️🫰 From your favorite missionary in Korea- Sister Becerra💜🇰🇷 https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ak8ky5ngBjUajc5Q8
Sister Victoria Daughetee, Maryland Baltimore
Apr 21, 2025
Hey everyone this week was crazy and I have 10 min to write this email. First off. I love you all! This week was insane but so amazing. I'm doing bullet points this week bc, well, I have no time. — We found 13 people. Crazy 🤪 — Met 2 ex flds people this week. That was cool. — We had exchanges and the sisters came to our area. Wednesday Sister Nuttall was with me and Friday Sister Lowder was with me. They were super fun! Love those sisters — High fived a cool guy on a motorcycle. — Got locked out of our apt bc Sis Blanchy had the keys lol.... so we were stranded. — Had volleyball night which was so fun per usual. — Gave a talk in church for Easter. Took up 15 min. Tbh, proud of myself. That's a long talk. — Sis Blanchard played the piano and I sang in sacrament meeting. (I posted a recording on fb.) — President Brigham and Sister Brigham came to our ward for Easter Sunday. — Had to get in a full gown and glove to teach our cool ex flds friend while she was in the hospital. 🏥 🙃 Super cool week. Overall, I know there are typos, so just take ur best guess tbh. God is REAL! He lives! I love being a missionary. It's so amazing. Love u all mwha!!!! Xoxoxoxox sista Dotty 140 Snider Ave, Apt 2 Waynesboro, PA, 17268 https://photos.app.goo.gl/RDYcDkyz8XriWuas6
Sister Gracyn Decker, Nevada Las Vegas West
Apr 9, 2025
Hello!! You guysss, my new area is so awesome. It is definitely different. We are in a very nice part of Las Vegas which is great, but it makes the work a lot slower. So we spend most of the days biking around, talking to people at parks, and visiting members. Updates: — MY COMP IS THE BEST!! Her name is Sister Parks, and she is from Michigan. She has me cracking up every two seconds. We are bit of a dangerous duo but don't worry, we still get work done. — We are teaching 2 sisters, and they are the cutest! Alexis is 16 and McKenna is 12, and they are both getting baptized this month! I CANNOT WAIT! They keep me updated on all the trends going on, it's the best. — There is a lady named Kathy that we go over and read the scriptures to a few times a week. She has Parkinson's disease, and is bedridden. Her husband isn't a member, but asked if we could come over and just give her some social interaction. It's super tender, we're hoping to have him start joining in on lessons. — IT WAS GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND! General Conference is already awesome, but as a missionary it is ten times better. It was so awesome just getting to sit back and relax and hear everyone's testimonies about our Savior. — Today is Pday so we got to go shopping!! One thing about Vegas is they have got some gooood shopping. It was so rejuvenating. — It is getting warm out, which is great, but soon it won't be as enjoyable. Everytime I tell someone I've been out for 6 weeks, they warn me about how hot it's gonna get. Spiritual thought: My favorite talk from General Conference was by Steven Shumway. He talked about service and church callings. And he shared something along the lines of, God doesn't ask us to do things because he needs our help, it's cause we need his. Sister Decker
Elder Enoch Ellis, Wisconsin Milwaukee
Apr 1, 2025
Hello everyone! I step away from the jungle for a moment to share a communication. Things are going well. I have destroyed the Do Lung bridge at least 3 times. I am happy to report that I'll be staying in Fond Du Lac at least until the middle of May. I am excited for general conference coming this weekend. I never realized how cool general conference was. I also never realized that all my house rules growing up were just the commandments of God, ancient and modern through his current prophets. God bless my parents for striving to follow the divine model, even when I made it difficult for them. I'm excited to hear more from the chosen messengers of the savior. Got to reunite with my MTC trio 1 year later and also visit a cool clothing brand warehouse that I like. 1 Nephi 1:1 2 Nephi 2:2 Mosiah 2:41 Elder Ellis
Elder Carter Flory, Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan North
May 27, 2024
Hello Family and Friends. Here is a summary of our family updates from video chats with Elder Flory through 27 May 2024: — His companion gave him a haircut this week. His hair is growing back on the side where he self cut it without a guard. — He had an interview with his mission president and wife. — He went to visit this young girl who is often ill and sad. Carter gave her a priesthood blessing in French. The next day she was happy and healthy! — They are planning a mega-baptism in their zone (15 areas) where around 40 people are being baptized the same day by the missionaries. Carter has been doing a lot of the paperwork to help get them ready. In one case, there is a couple who wants to get baptized, but thinks it should be a huge celebration so they wanted to wait; Carter spoke by following the Spirit and his personal feelings and experience with baptism at the Ghana temple. Seeing people with such strong desire and reading the Book of Mormon has strengthened his testimony and choice for his mission. — Transfers are coming next week and he anticipates that he will still be there. He really likes the people, the ward, and the area. He thinks he will be chosen to go to a new zone. — He continues to take medicine and is getting better from the recent typhoid illness. — Since he has been there, he has tried all types of new foods. As a result, he has gained some weight. He tried a pork meal that his companion cooked for dinner. — He wakes up around 6 am each day and works out for exercise in the mornings 3 times per week. — It rained a lot where Carter is staying. It flooded a lot and there are a lot of these pools/swamps of water. — Next to the ward building there is a small patch of grass. It reminded him of Minecraft grass and how things can be built. He saw a little boy wearing a Minecraft shirt in his area. — He has not been relocated yet, he finds out in 2 more days what the decision is. — His English is starting to have an accent now since he speaks mostly French. He finds that sometimes he forgets the English words. — It is Mango + Papaya season and Carter bought a lot of them. — This week they found a rat outside of their door in the patio area and they had to kill it. — He learned how to make No Bake Peanut Butter cookies (NBPB Cookies) https://photos.app.goo.gl/cr2TasxpE3PtUoKe9 Elder Carter Dell Flory Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan North Mission Riviera Attoban L43 Derrière Église St. Bernard Cocody, Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire
Elder Hermann Lang, Manchester New Hampshire
Jan 20, 2025
Bonjour. John got baptized yesterday! And on his birthday! Smart way to spend time. His is a complicated situation within his household and family....making it seem pretty impossible to get to this point, but we kept pushing through it and the Lord worked wonders around us and him as we simply kept coming with the messages of joy and hope that we bring..... So however impossible it might seem, just don't forget to include the Lord in all that you do and trust me, things will go the best way they can—even if at first it doesn't seem too great. Just be patient and persevere and trust that, like this, things will turn out in the best way you need them to. Here's the link to my pics if yall wanna check it out...email me I'd love to hear from yall. https://photos.app.goo.gl/xwrpqzfrrNubxjNU9 Always love, Elder Lang
Elder Max Lewis, Arizona Tucson
Apr 22, 2025
Hey everybody, Not much happened this last week other than Easter! It was awesome. I learned so much about my Savior and it was the best. We had a great Easter conference with half the mission. It was fun to see all the missionaries and learn what Jesus Christ truly did for us and that He Lives! Thank you all friends and family that sent all the emails and messages! Sorry if I wasn't able to respond to you all. Know that I love you and am grateful for all the support. It truly helps keep me going. I loved reading through each if them and hearing all the updates. The weather has been super nice for the laat week. It got up to 100 sometimes a couple weeks ago, but it cooled down for a second, so that was a blessing. I love you all! Keep doing what's right. Jesus loves you! I am so happy to be a missionary for Jesus Christ. Elder Lewis
Sister Rachel Lillywhite, Texas Austin Mission
Apr 1, 2025
"There are only two types of player: those who keep their nerves in control and win championships and those who do not." —The Greatest Game Ever Played 17 months! This is crazy! March has been busy, but a lot of fun. I'm super grateful for all the amazing friends and members we have here. They're the best! We recently had stake conference. That same Saturday morning, the Stake Presidency made breakfast for all the missionaries and we talked about missionary work in the area. We got a few friends to show up to the Saturday and Sunday sessions which was awesome because almost every speaker was a recent convert. President and Sister Carter were also asked to speak. They did a great job! The bishop asked us to plan a youth activity about missionary work a few weeks ago. It was actually so much fun. We gave each of the youth a mission call letter, put them into companionships, and made then street contact their leaders. I think a lot of them were pretty nervous which reminded me of how I probably felt when I first got to Texas, but it was cool to see them get better and better. We ended up challenging each of them to invite one of their friends to church. Haha, we were so proud! Since being here in Riverside I've been able to go on a couple of exchanges into capitol. It's been fun going back to my very first area. My first time back, I ran into some of my old members. It was so good to see them again and I was actually suprised that they remembered me. We had transfers about 2 weeks ago. I can't believe this is my last one. Sister Lawson finished her mission so we had to go drop her off. My last companion is Hermana Olsen. She's from Logan and is 9 months into her mission. She is super funny and was so excited to come to Riverside. We are having a little too much fun, haha. Just about everyone I know was at transfers which was a blessing because I'm not sure if I'll see some of them again before I go home. We also got a brand new car at transfers which is cool but I'm no longer the driver so that's a little sad. I spoke in church last Sunday. My topic was the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was actually harder to write the talk than I anticipated. I think it's because there are just so many different scriptures and resources that teach about Christ's Atonement and it was hard to know which ones to include. Either way I think it went well and now I can say I spoke in every area on my mission. We've been seeing a lot of miracles recently with trying to get people to come to church. We've had people just walk into the building or stop us on the sidewalk to ask what time the services are. Our members have been inviting random strangers too. It makes us happy to hear how proud and excited they are when they call us to let us know that the guy the met at the store is going to be at church on Sunday. We have some friends who have been progressing pretty well. It's fun to see them develop their own testimonies of what we've taught them. After a really good lesson with our friend Katherine, we basically asked her what else she feels she needs in order to get baptized. She thought about it for a second then said "nothing" and scheduled herself a baptismal date! We love her! Speaking of baptisms, Maria got baptized!! Maria is one of the friends that the elders gave us when Sister Lawson and I got transferred to Riverside. She's from Venezuela, but met the missionaries 4 years ago while she was living in Columbia. She's been waiting to get baptized for so long and was so excited. She invited all of her neighbors to come and had about 20 other friends, family, and past missionaries watching over zoom. Also shout out to Elder Peacock for being the best camera man. Her 7 year old daughter Blanca sang the primary song "When I am Baptized" and I played the piano. She was a little nervous so Sister Olsen and one of our members sang with her. I couldn't see from the piano, but Sister Olsen told me everyone was sobbing. We asked Maria to share her testimony at the end and it was so powerful. She the best!! I have loved being here in Riverside this past month. It's strange to think that I only have 4 more weeks to be a missionary in Texas. It's going by so fast but I'm trying to take advantage of it. Anyway, I hope everyone one has a good month! Enjoy watching General Conference as well as the Masters! Love, Hermana Lillywhite :)
Sister Eliza Liston, California Roseville
Apr 21, 2025
So many highs this week—so spiritually full!!! We had Elder Peter M Johnson of the 70 came to visit our mission and he is a BEAST! I learned so much about my Savior and how I can better fulfill my missionary purpose! It was so fun speading Easter messages all week. Everyone was down to listen because they all love Jesus, too! I really came to know that the Savior's promsies are sure! I had an epiphany moment where I imagined Jesus and 2 little kids standing at the start of an obstacle course full of lava, monsters, and death (hear me out). Jesus says to them, "Follow me EXACTLY and you will make it out alive." And, for some reason, imagining life like that really helped me understand the Plan of Salvation better. My top miracle of the week comes from a part-member family! We met the dad, James, at the park like 8 weeks ago. He was saying he's fine and doesn't really care to come back and then about 6 weeks ago we saw him again and he had been listening to the Book of Mormon! He told us that another girl we are teaching is his niece and he is wanting to get his daughters involved and left it at that. On Sunday, 2 girls walk in with their cousin and we are like UUHHH ARE YOU JAMES' GIRLS!? They were and they LOVED church!! We are going to have a lesson with them on Tuesday night! I love the Lord and I am proud to be his missionary!! Love you all!! Sister Liston https://photos.app.goo.gl/SaBgnKFKrs77dGxX8 This is the mission office: 5930 Granite Lake Dr #110, Granite Bay, CA 95746 This is where I live now: 2421 Melton Cir, Live Oak, CA 95953
Sister Paige Liston, Texas Houston East
Apr 7, 2025
Helllloooo!!!! Conference this weekend was amazing!!!! I watched all of it in Spanish so I'm definitely going to need to re-listen and study it, but something that stood out to me is that the Savior truly can heal us. I hope you all were able to watch it and if not go watch it right now!!! On Friday, we had the coolest temple experience!! We were able to bring our recent convert Saul to the temple for the first time!! He literally couldn't stop smiling the moment he saw the temple, ahhhh!!!! Back story: last week we tried to go to the temple with Saul but he couldn't come because he was working and his boss wouldn't let him off early. Well this week he literally quit his job and found a new one that would allow him to come.... he is the goat!!! He was able to baptize me and my companion and I'm the worst because I honestly couldn't stop laughing because I thought I was going to drown... but still special nonetheless! Also my old companion Hermana Medina was there and was able to be baptized for her grandma which was so special!! The spirit that night was so strong and I was just so happy! This week we were able to put our friend Milagros on date for baptism!! While serving here in Broadway, she has filled out a million referrals to come to church and never comes, but it has been a miracle because she has started coming and she loves it!! Woot woot!!! Honestly I don't have too much to say this week! I love being a missionary! I love my Savior and I love this work! This week I re-started the Book of Mormom! I have been loving it! I invite you all to start reading your Book of Mormon everyday if you aren't already! It is such a simple small thing, but it truly makes all the difference in life! I know the Book of Mormon is true! It makes me happy when I read it and fills me with peace! I know my Savior because of the Book of Mormon and I am forever grateful for that! 1 Nephi 21:16 "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." I love you all!! Have a wonderul week!!! ¿Que lo que tu quiere? Xoxoxo Hermana Liston 🫶💕💗 https://photos.app.goo.gl/k2gyveDJPwknteQ67
Elder Cameron Nielsen, Spain Madrid North
Apr 21, 2025
Yoo, long time no see. Figured id pop in here real quick and drop some knowledge. I know that like i havent written yall in a hot minute, and I apologize, I hope you can forgive me ✊️😔. Im currently writting this fella on a plane ride from my beloved island to Lanzarote. And smaller more deserty island than my own. Although I will be reunited with my ex quad mate Elder Bernard! So thatll be fun. Also some other fun news! Ill be hitting my 18 month mark in a few weeks. And i wanted to do another Q/A type beat. So if you got any questions, send them to me over email or messenger. Or if you back home in the ward you can talk to my mother then she can relay them to ya boy. Ight welp, story time? Recently our piso has been a dangerous area. Literally all metal in our kitchen became electric! If we touched anything itd shock us. And not like a hehe haha funny shock, like it hurt a lot. After touching it a bunch of times we learned that if we just wore shoes we could touch stuff sin problema. So of course, we proceeded to try and convince every fella that pulled up for exchanges to touch it... as one does. Unfortunately the problem seemed to just have magically fixed itself. So no more pranks :(. One the bright side, it aint a battle to do dishes anymore. We also recently had our zone conference. It was here in Gran Canaria, but up north in the city of Las Palmas. We actually had two amigas pull up to it and they loved it! One of them, who shall be baptized this domingo, wants to serve a mission now! Dean and I had the opportunity to train on setting expectations with our amigos. And it was lit! I stuck our presentation in my google album if you wish to be enlightened. It was also super funny bc Bryson, the son of president, basically dragged me around the entire time trying to teach me how to use the technology. He would get me at me for everything, even when i did it right :(. After zone conference I had exchanges with Elder Ashby. To start we decided to drive to Narnia to give a Book of Mormon to a new friend of theirs. Who is this new friend? A dood that was baptized in Vecindario just over a year ago 😎 so... Less active member work ig... it was a super cool drive. And we had a ton of time to discuss mission stuff, like stuff is the district and the zone. We also did a little study next to this really cool Jesus statue on top of a mountain! That was dubs We also have several other friends who are progressing super well towards baptism! It has been so awesome to work with them. We got: Idaira (E-die-ra): 25yr, from canary islands. Super lit! Was found by missionaries about 6 months ago, but disappeared. Recently reappeared. Pulled up to ZC. Asked to be baptized. Asked to serve a mission. Margot: de peru. Found like a year ago and has been constantly taught since then. Recently expressed to desires to finally making a covenant with Dioscito Imre: Hungarian, ex-jew, ex-7th day evangelist. Started reading the Book of Mormon and loved it. Asked to be baptized and join the church. Malacks: nice nigerian man who makes good (sometimes scary) food. Older chap who wishes to change his life. Jhon y Thiago: colombian father and son. The dad wants to change his life around and fix his relationship with his fam. Thiago just kinda along for the ride. Welp, these were some of my personal highlights from the past few weeks. Imma end it here and go travel to the elders piso. Buenas noches a todos. Os quiero https://photos.app.goo.gl/5Bts9wPXUNpFKDmn6 Elder Nielsen
Elder Jordan Reese, Texas Fort Worth
Mar 17, 2025
IT'S BEEN A MINUTE! Hola Hola Hola!!! I've missed you all so much! I'm so sorry for not writing in such a long time – it's been at least six months, maybe even longer. Life here on my mission has been going great. I'm learning new things every day and meeting the most amazing people. So, let me tell you what I've been up to as lately: ● I officially hit 19 months on my mission a couple days ago!!! And I only have 3 more transfers left of my mission! It's sad. So that's all I'm going to say about that. ● Right now I'm in Arlington, Texas and my comp is Elder Hink! I've been here in Arlington since November and transfers are coming up next week so there is a chance I will leave. But we'll see!! Elder Hink is amazing and it has been awesome to be his comp this transfer. I'm "Spanish training" him. Which means he was an English missionary before and now he switched over to Spanish. It pretty awesome! This is my second time doing this and I love it! ● I'm got sick this last week, so that was no fun!! And not many people wanted to talk with us this last week! But that's ok!! ● We also went to this Brazilian restaurant on Monday! You know the kind! Where they bring the meat to you!! 🍖 SO GOOD!! ● We also went to the Dallas temple this last week! It was awesome like always!! We got there early so I got to do initiatories which I haven't done since the mtc!! And just to here all those blessing brought tears to my eyes! SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: My thought today comes from a scripture I was reading early today: Isaiah 53:4: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows" The Atonement of Jesus Chirst is so beautiful! Yes, the Atonement allows us to receive forgiveness for our sins. But it is so much more than that!! Because of the Atonement Jesus knows our griefs, and our weaknesses. He felt our sorrows and our sicknesses. I want you to know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is for you. The Son and the Father who sent him LOVE YOU! And if you aren't sure about that. If you don't know for a fact the they love you and that Jesus died for you, please learn more about him. Study his life and ministry. Pray and repent daily. Go to church and partake of the sacrament listen to the prayer and ponder on what it means to you. I love you all! And I pray for you! Have an amazing week!! Elder Jordan Reese https://photos.app.goo.gl/gzjWnFpYvfqFWWek6 Yours truly, Elder Jordan Reese